Peppa Pig voice actor Harley Bird steps down after 13 years

Harley Bird has announced she will no longer be voicing Peppa Pig in the show of the same name after 13 years in the role.

The 18-year-old began lending her voice to the character when she was just five-years-old as the third actor to take on the part of the feisty pig.

"Becoming the voice of Peppa Pig at the age of five was the start of an incredible journey, and I'll never forget my time on the show," she told the PA news agency.

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Her replacement has now been revealed as nine-year-old Amelie Bea Smith who will make her debut in a Peppa Pig episode set to air on Valentine's Day.

Smith's agent Mark Jermin said: "Amelie has been a huge fan of the show since she was little, so voicing the title role is like a dream come true and she’s thrilled to become part of the voice cast.”

The first Peppa voice belonged to Lily Snowden-Fine who was on the show for the first series before handing over to Cecily Bloom for series two.

Bloom was succeed by Bird who is the show's longest-serving Peppa.

Newcomer Smith will be heard as Peppa in the UK, the US, Australia as well as other international territories that air the episodes in English.

It comes as the huge popularity of the anthropomorphic pig has had an unusual international impact as it was reported last year that it had led to US children developing British accents.